


Lucid Dreams

by Denniso



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dreams, F/M, Fluff, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Mystery, Riddles, Secret Identity, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28537065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denniso/pseuds/Denniso
Summary: When reocurring nightmares begin blurring into their day, Ladybug and Chat Noir start to think these dreams mean something more. Why else would there be a cat in a gilded cage? Why else would there be a shadow that Adrien cant seem to catch? Will they find the truth behind their dreams? Or lose to the riddle of their nightmares?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 13
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [AgresteBug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgresteBug/)  
> for beta-reading this work. You're amazing, Bug <3  
> 

Paris at night. The city of love. Charming, amazing, exciting.

_ Defenseless. _

_ Defenseless? Not today.  _ Thought the raven-haired girl.

Out of all people in Paris, whether they were locals or tourists, no one could make out the dark silhouette perched on the roof of one of the most famous places in the entire city — Notre Dame de Paris. The darkness and height did their work, giving Ladybug the assurance that she was well hidden from any prying eyes. Or at least, she was almost sure. 

Ladybug shook her head, shutting out the thoughts that anyone could go out of their way to follow their routes. She knew what she needed to do and focused on her primary goal — keeping a watchout for any potential dangers. 

She knew pretty well that Paris went by many names and described in many ways. But defenseless? Hardly. She looked around the city; her gaze filled with motherly attentiveness and love. Knowing for a fact that she was not alone on her mission gave her a significant confidence boost.

_ There’s another pair of eyes, just as attentive as mine! Only these have the ability to see through the darkness! _

“So where is that  _ other _ pair of eyes?” Ladybug whispered to herself, her brows furrowing as eventually, she began drowning in her own thoughts.

_ *** _

_ She remembered this dream well. It didn’t feel like one at first and for a second Marinette even thought she had gotten caught in the akuma attack. _

_She found herself surrounded by an unnatural pitch-black darkness._ _Other than the thundering heart beating wildly against her chest, not a sound could be heard. Cold sweat ran down her neck, her stomach clenching into an uncomfortable knot of nerves. She crossed her arms over her chest, hands shaking against her prickled skin. Shadows loomed just out of the corner of her eye. She could hardly make anything out._ _A flicker of light in the distance eased her rising fear, whispering the promise of protection from the dark. She followed its call, the flickering light revealing what she hadn’t been able to see before. It was a street lamp that had suddenly been turned on in front of her. Under it, she spotted a beautiful black cat sitting up straight, tail twitching slowly back and forth behind it. It’s piercing green gaze fixated in her direction with great interest, but somehow… it did not see her at all._

_ Seeing how the cat was trying very hard to notice her, Marinette finally gathered her courage and decided to move closer to help the cat see her. Upon her mere thought moving closer, the lamp above their heads sputtered a few times. For a moment, she even thought she saw the cat’s fur change color from pitch-black to a familiar sunshine blonde.  _

_ As soon as she stretched her hand out to touch the cat, she woke up. Her damp hair clinging to the back of her neck, hands shaking as she gasped for air her lungs so desperately needed. _

_ Surprised and worried by the clear images she had imprinted in her mind by the plaguing dream, she remembered talking to Tikki about the lingering images. And she remembered the little kwami shaking her head thoughtfully: _

_ “Don’t rush it, Marinette. You’ll soon figure everything out yourself.” _

  
  


***

The liberating sound of the wind whistling in his ears gave a needed boost in speed as he rushed forward. Jumping from one rooftop to another, his heart began to race, getting closer to his goal.

Suddenly he stopped, his feet making a muffled shambling sound sliding against the gravelled rooftop. He stared at the building that was his goal. Chances were he was the only person in the entire city who could make out the dark silhouette perched on the roof of Notre Dame, the endpoint of their patrols. The cathedral was beautiful, of course, but he was not focused on its history or architecture. The superheroine who waited for him on the rooftop thoroughly consumed his thoughts. It was not the first time in the past few weeks that his mind wandered into thoughts about his Lady. He couldn’t exactly say that Ladybug wasn’t on his mind all the time, but lately she’d been gradually taking more and more of his brain’s processing capacity for reasons that were not exactly unknown to him. 

  
  


_ *** _

_ Chat Noir closed his eyes, inhaling deeply to try and calm his stuttering breaths. _

_ This dream he remembered well. Adrien didn’t forget dreams that are, obviously, connected to his Lady. _

_ Even surrounded by complete darkness, he knew perfectly well where he was. For a few minutes he just stood there, trying to get his eyes to adapt to the absence of light. He looked around, noticing very familiar scenery. There was no chance he wouldn’t recognise this place. It’d be a bad sign if he didn’t recognize his own school. And then there was a question of  _ **_why_ ** _ he was here, which Adrien entertained for a few minutes, but to no avail. _

_ His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a dark figure that ran past him, slamming into his shoulder and almost knocking him down. His eyes narrowed. He couldn’t make out the figure clearly enough, it was as if his cat-vision didn’t work, but it seemed to be chasing something. In a second, he knew what it was after. The bright pink light made of millions of ladybugs, the Miraculous Cure. But it just left him with more questions. _

_ Why would anyone need to chase it? Adrien thought, not understanding a bit of what was happening around him.  _

_ And, apparently, it was important for that unknown person. The wave of millions of ladybugs continued to whirl around him while that person was chasing the light as if their life depended on it, nearly knocking Adrien down a few times.  _

_ But when he finally gathered his courage and stretched his hand out to stop the person, he immediately woke up. _

_ And after every abrupt ending to his restless sleep, Adrien would jump up, hands outstretched, with the agonizing feeling of an unsolved mystery unremorsefully cutting through his heart.  _

_ Pressing his hand against his chest, Adrien would close his eyes again to try and recall as many fragile fragments of his dream as he possibly could. He knew perfectly well that this was important. This, whatever it was, interfered with his usually perfect sleep and he didn’t like it one bit. If this was to continue, he wouldn’t last much longer. _

_ Interested in the dream and the way it was obviously connected to his Lady somehow, there wasn’t a chance that he wouldn't be interested in something involving her, he remembered asking Plagg all about it. The sarcastic look etched on the kwami’s face flashed in his mind. The only answer Adrien got after bribing his kwami with another piece of Camembert hadn’t been worth leaving the comfortable warmth of his bed;  _

_ “Don’t rush it, kid. You’ll soon figure everything out yourself.” _

_ *** _

Snapping out of the thoughts before they could consume him once again, Chat jumped forward without a sound and continued running. The city lights enveloped him in their gentle, serene warmth, welcoming its defender. It felt reassuring and comforting at the same time. Adrien felt as though he’d found his purpose. This city was his purpose. And only in moments like these, running across the rooftops, hidden under his mask with the strength of a Miraculous flowing through his veins, he truly felt like himself. 

  
  


_ *** _

“A penny for your thoughts, my Lady.” She heard a familiar voice say from behind.

The girl barely turned her head towards him and even though she rolled her eyes, she eventually let out a bright, relieved smile.

And he saw her smile, just for a moment, but it was enough for him to enjoy his Lady’s beautiful eyes, twinkling in the bright luminescence of the moonlight. And at this very moment his Lady’s big blue eyes were even more gorgeous. He didn’t exactly know how it was possible, but he wasn’t ready to question anything. 

“What took you so long, Chaton?” She asked with a teasing smile, her gaze returning to the city. She still had her duties to fulfill, to make sure that their beloved city was safe. “Were you busy flirting with some other cat?”

With a faint surprise in his eyes, Chat pressed his palms to the center of his chest in a theatrical gesture.

“I don’t flirt with anyone apart from my Lady!” He exclaimed, his voice almost sounding offended. “For your information, I chose the longer route just to give you… a head start.”

“Always a gentleman, aren’t you?” She said rolling her eyes once again. “Just admit it, you can’t keep up with the fierce force that I am.” Ladybug laughed, throwing her fist up.

“Ha-ha, my Lady.” Chat put every bit of sarcasm he had into this laugh. “So, have you noticed anything suspicious while I was… giving you a head start?

“Alright, alright, a head start,” She spoke, thinking about if she saw anything for the last half an hour in Chat’s absence. “No-o, everything was calm and quiet. Before you showed up that was.”

Ladybug smirked and sat on the edge of the building, patting the space near her. Chat arched his eyebrows, looking at her in slight surprise, but accepted her offer anyway.

Ladybug observed the city once again, letting out a thoughtful and deep sigh.

“Is something wrong, milady?” He asked, concerned about her well-being.

“Well, everything’s mostly alright, but…” Ladybug started, gazing down to her lap. “I’m a bit concerned with the dreams I’ve been having lately.”

Chat gave her another surprised look.

“Dreams?”

“Yes, Noir, dreams,” She repeated. “They seem to haunt me, coming back every other night. As if my subconsciousness is trying to tell me something. And usually, after those dreams, I feel awful. It’s always so hard to wake up and the constant headache is really harsh. I get up feeling like I haven’t slept at all.”

Turning her head towards Chat, she only saw concern with a barely noticeable glimpse of hope in his eyes. 

“Don’t you dare think I’ve gone mad!” She laughed, softly punching his shoulder.

“That wasn’t what I thought at all, Ladybug,” Chat said thoughtfully, rubbing his hands absentmindedly. “In fact, I understand you completely. Actually, that’s exactly what I was planning to discuss with you. Lately, and far too often, I’ve had, have… interesting dreams.”

This time it was her turn to stare Chat down with an astonished expression climbing on her face.

“No-no-no, my Lady,” Chat raised his hands up defensively, feeling the warmth spread through his face as his cheeks flushed red. “It’s not what you think it is! Cat’s honor! Just let me explain!”

“Okay, Chat, go on,” Ladybug smirked, seeing how fast he tried to renounce the mere joking suspicions about him having wet dreams about the superheroine.

“But I will tell you all about them in exchange for…” Chat started, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

“In exchange for a kiss, I assume?” She interrupted him, laughing. “Well then, you can leave your interesting dreams to yourself.”

“Will you stop interrupting?” he flared up. “ _ In exchange _ for telling me about your dreams!”

Ladybug went silent for a moment, considering the risks. Her mind instantly sprung to action and gave her all the possible consequences of this decision. She had to stop her brain from wandering when the thought of them revealing each other identities appeared. 

_ Well, that’s a stretch. Even I can’t see it happening,  _ she thought, trying to calm the raging brainstorm. 

It wasn’t exactly  _ impossible _ , but she decided that way too many things had to align just perfectly for it to happen. And she really wanted to talk about these dreams to someone who she knew she could trust.

“Deal,” She sighed, finally agreeing to his proposition.

***

“Good morning, Marinette!” Tikki’s high-pitched voice split her head with the strength of a sledgehammer. Accompanied by the annoying buzzing of her alarm perforating her head like an enormous drill, she struggled to open even one of her eyes. Blindly, she managed to turn off the alarm to her relief. The girl buried her face in her palms, groaning loudly. She rubbed her eyes, struggling to maintain consciousness. Marinette sat up on her bed, leaning heavily on her shaking hands. Buzzing of the alarm still echoed in her ears. She tried to open her eyes again, feeling as though in her sleep she was taking long sand baths. Marinette rubbed her eyes again, much more vigorously this time and once she was sure she wouldn't fall asleep again, she allowed herself to lay down. She raised her palms to her face and carefully stroked her cheeks. Her entire body screamed about being exhausted. With her fingertips Marinette felt thenasty black circles under her eyes. She buried her hands into her tangled hair and groaned in pain. Marinette could tell she was not going to look forward to her morning routine. 

Practically all night, she had the same dream that she had recently spoken to Chat about. Repeating itself again and again like a broken record, it seemed like it was trying to show her something, but she was never sure she quite understood the meaning of it. Instead of clarity, with each repetition of the dream, she felt as though she was actually understanding less and less.

Now here she was, laying down on her bed, looking to the ceiling through her open figures with thoughts about that dream filling every thought. Marinette never thought she had the sharpest of minds, yet she understood there was some obvious connection between the cat in her dream and her kitten in real life. She thought she could ask Tikki about it, but the hardly coherent thoughts buzzing around in her head decided that it was a topic for another time. 

_ The cats aren’t going anywhere.  _ Marinette decided.

The girl sat up on her bed, trying to blink away the sleepiness. The first thing she saw was the concerned gaze of her kwami. In Tikki’s big blue eyes, Marinette saw sympathy and care. As if the tiny creature knew  _ exactly  _ what her chosen one was feeling at this moment.

“Bad dreams, Mari?” Tikki asked quietly.

“Yeah,” she answered shortly, rubbing her eyes. “There’s something I want to talk about but… Not now, I can’t.” She gestured toward her head. “The brain thingy doesn’t work properly. Doesn’t work at all, to be honest.”

Tikki smiled warmly and nodded. “I’ll be here when you’re ready and will try to help as much as I can.”

The headache caused by sleep deprivation left her with little to no strength or desire to get out of her bed, let alone going anywhere, but she knew perfectly well that she had to. Gathering her strength, she threw herself out from under the blankets. Each step towards the bathroom echoed loudly in her head, vibrating painfully through her entire being and squeezing quiet sobs out of her.

_ Was Chat’s morning as awful as mine? _

***

Adrien woke up to the obnoxiously bright morning sun shimmering down onto his bed. He woke up as usual, just before the alarm went off, but still feeling as if his head was about to implode. The strange and unknown feeling of anxiety washed over him. Trying to figure out where it came from, he glanced towards the windowsill where he found Plagg, already awake and thoughtfully looking outside while enjoying his 100% Camembert breakfast. 

Although these dreams were a significant influence on his overall well-being, which inevitably showed with the awful dark circles under his eyes, Adrien still had no trouble waking up before the alarm. And even though he had an insufferable headache and a loud banging in his ears, he was sure he’d make it through the day. Well, he was  _ almost _ sure.

“So I had a thought,” He spoke loud enough so Plagg would hear him. And judging by the extremely sarcastic expression growing on kwami’s face, he did hear him. The growing bitter comment inside of the tiny creature’s mind was utterly obvious, but he, somehow, managed to keep it to himself, turning his head slightly to listen to what his chosen one had to say. “Is it possible that Ladybug’s and my emotions and feelings are somehow connected? Or are maybe becoming connected?”

Adrien saw a spark of some unrecognizable emotion flash in his kwami’s eyes. It disappeared in the blink of an eye, and this once Adrien decided to dismiss all the curious questions appearing in his head about it. He needed to focus on the matter at hand. 

“So I’m going to assume that you pretty much know the answer. I’ve lived a long life, kid, and I have had many holders of the black cat Miraculous. More than you can imagine. The heroes and we, kwami, often meet similar problems like the uncertainty of the wielders, but we also have to face absolutely unique problems in each experience that may do more harm than good if we intervene or try to help. And, I’m sorry Adrien, this is exactly that kind of problem. You’ll have to figure it out yourself.”

Adrien gave his kwami a questioning look. Plagg had given him far too much explanation for quite a simple question.

“Would a weekly supply of Camembert help you change your mind?

Adrien asked, knowing exactly how to tempt the kwami into giving him the information he needed.

“Don’t even try to bribe me,” Plagg answered firmly, making Adrien smirk widely. A few moments of silence passed before Plagg understood how obvious he was by hiding the whole truth from his chosen one. “Whops? I guess it’s too late to retract, right? You owe me a lot more than a weekly supply now.” He continued, showering Adrien with a grim look, angry at how easily the kid fished the information out of him. “And, to answer your question, yes. Only your Miraculouses were designed to work together. In history, we had a few occurrences when feelings and emotions of the wielder of the black cat miraculouses would sync with those of Ladybug Miraculous wielder. But it never led to any serious consequences. And, if we understood the circumstances correctly, it only happened because… No, wait. That’s a big spoiler.”

“Plagg, you probably already know this, but I’m going to tell you one more time: you’re terrible,” Adrien mumbled.

“Sure, I know that, but I don’t want to answer all of your questions,” Plagg grinned, “At least, not right now. Where’s the fun in that?” He floated closer, seeing the annoyed expression on his holder’s usually calm face, “Besides, I highly doubt that Ladybug bothers her kwami with so many questions. Now, where’s my cheese?” Plagg laughed hearing Adrien groan at the mention of cheese, and floated towards the mini-fridge, which only found its purpose after Adrien acquired his Miraculous.

_ Well, that’s some amount of useful information. A lot actually, considering it’s Plagg.  _

Making his way towards the bathroom, his fingertips found their way to his temples, the throbbing pain in his head worsening the more he dwelled on the dream. He hoped his lady had managed to get a better night sleep than he did at least.

***

Marinette was particularly happy that her usual ‘luck’ struck her this morning. She didn’t have to talk much during morning classes and she didn’t have to explain to anyone her apathetic, somewhat careless, look. The mere thought of social interactions made her cringe. Though the headache had calmed a bit, she was far from feeling like a normally functioning human being.

She could barely sit upright. Her lack of focus and attention span of a goldfish was going to come back to bite her sooner or later. Yet, she didn’t seem to care enough about it or about the contents of the lessons she was half-deliberately skipping out on mentally. She could’ve tried and listened to their teacher, but she knew she had exactly zero chance of success of actually taking in any sort of information. The hazy cloud stuffed inside her head was a wall to the outside world, refusing to let anything besides the fragments of her dream in. That’s why she decided to focus on them, trying to make any sense out of the scattered pieces.

For Marinette, the whole morning was a long, everlasting blurred mess of sounds. Only the afternoon break bell was able to, somewhat successfully, break her free from the zombie state she was in.

Letting out a relieved sigh, she shakily stood up and started to pick up her things hurriedly while Alya was distracted chatting with Nino.

Keeping her head low, she stepped towards the exit, but almost immediately crashed into an obstacle. 

A soft and warm one with familiar sunshine colored hair. 

“Ad-Adrien?!” She mumbled out. “I’m s-sorry. I wasn’t looking! And you here! And so am I!” 

Marinette flinched backward a few steps and nearly fell on her bottom. But thanks to Adrien's quick reaction, she did not. He launched forward, catching her and clasping her body safely inside the space of his arms. 

“Adr… I..” She tried to speak, her cheeks flaring up. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mari.” He whispered, still not letting her out of his hold. “Are you alright?”

“Who, me? Yes! Bever netter! I mean, never better!” She blurted, making herself move away from him.

Yet, when she gathered enough courage to look up, she instantly felt her heart sink. The state Adrien was in was not much different from her own. There were the noticeable dark circles under his eyes, the way his hair looked messier than usual as it stuck out wildly in odd places, and the general tiredness in his usually put together appearance. Marinette felt a shiver running down her spine once she realized that he probably saw the same things in her.

“Well, are YOU alright, Adrien?” She mumbled, taking a good long look at the deep tiredness in his eyes.

“Me?..” He echoed, confused. “I’m good! It’s just, lately, I’ve been having…”

“...Bad dreams?” Marinette blurted out, finishing the phrase for him.

“Y-yes?” Adrien arched his eyebrow, visible concern growing in his eyes. “How did you know?”

She felt her knees starting to tremble, trying to come up with a suitable answer.

“It’s intuition,” Alya interrupted, coming closer to Marinette and hugging her shoulders. “And Sunshine, it’s basically written all over your face. Besides, Marinette mentioned she had a few nightmares recently.”

“M-Marinette? You too?” Adrien asked, looking closely at her. “So nightmares, huh?”

“Well…” She mumbled as she silently nudged Alya towards the exit. “Would you look at the time! We don’t want to miss dinner, do we?”

With that rather abrupt and obvious avoidance of the subject, she took a hold of Alya’s hand and ran out of the door.

In the process of her escape, she cast another look back at Adrien, with only one thought buzzing around in her head.

_ This is impossible. It can’t be. _

Obviously, she couldn’t have known that at the same time, the same exact thought popped up inside Adrien’s head too.


	2. Chapter 2

_ I can’t be that lucky. _

Marinette sat on her balcony, wrapping herself into a black and red polka-dotted blanket, mindlessly regarding the houses around. The chilly evening air felt like a welcoming and nice reminder of the upcoming winter. On a small table next to her, Tikki was eating her dinner cookies. And either she didn’t see the mental ambivalence of her chosen one, or she left it to Marinette to ask for help, should she need it.

With each second passing, her suspicions grew stronger. That one  _ petite _ detail opened her eyes to one too many things she had been blind to. And that made her dizzy.

She even was ready to dismiss the fact that, if she’s right with her suspicions, for so long they were running from each other… Because of each other.

It wasn’t easy to deny the facts that now were… obvious. Adrien always had acted suspiciously during Akuma attacks, often mysteriously disappearing right before Chat showing up, and was specifically famous for making up odd excuses. Just like Marinette was. 

_ Adrien has an allergy to feathers. So does Chat Noir. Their voices, hair, height. Was the answer always that obvious? _

And even now, seeing all these inexplicable similarities between her friend and her partner, Marinette couldn’t bring herself to suspect Adrien of being Chat Noir. That was just too good to even be remotely true. No, Marinette just couldn’t be that lucky.

_ Adrien has nightmares and feels terrible. So does Chat Noir. _

Marinette sat back, looking up at the dark purple evening clouds. She felt a familiar yet unwelcoming weight in her chest. She knew very well that the  **dream** was coming to her again. Which only meant she wouldn’t get to have a normal sleep today. Again.

Closing her eyes, she touched her earrings.

_ What are you trying to tell me? _

***

_ The strange feeling of panic washed over her. While she knew perfectly well that she was sleeping, she was also fast to find out that something had changed. _

_ Her last few days were strange enough as they were, yet she couldn’t even imagine that she would miss the previous dream, or that handsome black cat interrupting her sleep. _

_ Looking around, Marinette found that she had ended up in a long , and quite frankly daunting, hall. The most frightening thing of all, was the feeling that she’d already been here. _

_ She decided to listen to what her intuition had to say about it. Marinette closed her eyes and focused on the surrounding sounds. _

_ And what she heard was, probably, the most plaintive meowing she had ever heard in her life. Her eyes wide open, she bolted towards the source of the sound. Running fast, as if her life depended on it. The genuine fear for the cat washed over her. _

_ Making her way forward, she wasn’t thinking about consequences and ran right into dead darkness. In a second she couldn’t even see her own palms. _

_ It took her just long enough to get used to the darkness.Right after which... she heard another sound.  _

_ “Murr-eow?” _

_ Looking around for another few minutes, she finally found it, immediately feeling her knees threatening to crumble. It was the same cat, standing right in front of her. The good thing was that it, apparently, had finally started noticing her. Everything would be perfect if the cat wasn’t locked up in a spacey golden cage with a big, heavy barn lock encrusted with emerald and amethyst gems.  _

_ Getting down on her knees, Marinette slid her hand between the bars, reaching out to the cat. Frightened, it jumped away for a split second, but almost immediately came back and rubbed against her hand. _

_ “Oh, poor thing,” She whispered, petting the cat's head softly. “Who put you in there?” _

_ The cat raised its head, as if understanding her, and coming closer to the cage door, tapped a barn lock a few times. _

_ With a free hand, she touched a lock, closely inspecting it. She couldn’t make herself avert her gaze from the purple gems.  _

_ Marinette felt like her subconsciousness was trying to show her something, but she didn’t feel like discovering another truth. Not right now. _

_ Leaning forward slightly, she touched the bars with her forehead. _

_ “Fear not, my Chaton,” She whispered. “I will find you. And I will get you out.” _

***

_ What are you trying to tell me?  _ Adrien thought, rubbing his ring thoughtfully.

Sitting on a windowsill in the moonlight, he gazed upon the night sky.

Plagg was long asleep, yet Adrien was far from it, trying to clear his mind.

Besides, he knew perfectly well that he'd be going to see the dream. Again. Which only meant he was accepting the idea of not getting any decent sleep.

Adrien was sure that somewhere deep in his mind, he knew the identity of Ladybug. He was almost sure.

_ And almost sure was just not enough. _

As a matter of fact, he was almost sure that Ladybug and Marinette were the same person. He didn’t even need to think about all the weird coincidences and similarities in the two beautiful girls he knew. With just one look at Marinette’s eyes, he saw what he was seeing every day for the past week. An immeasurable amount of fatigue. It was almost enough to make him wake Plagg up and head straight to Dupain-Cheng bakery to sort everything out with Marinette. 

_ No, almost enough does not do it. _

Some invisible force prevented him from doing anything at all.

_ I can’t be that lucky. _

***

_ Adrien felt he was dreaming the minute he found himself behind his desk in his class. The first clue was that he couldn’t for his life remember how he got there. The second that there he was all by himself. And the last, but certainly not the least, was that classes are usually conducted during the day, not during the night.  _

_ The next thought that came to his mind, made him jump in fear. _

**_This is not that dream._ **

_ He raised his eyes, letting out a nervous chuckle.  _

_ “Biology: ladybugs and where to find them.” a message on the blackboard said. _

_ Even his subconscious was laughing at him. _

_ “Adrien?” he heard a voice from behind. Startled, he turned around immediately to no result — he still was completely alone. _

_ “Who’s that? Or better yet,  _ **_where_ ** _ did it come from?” And even though Adrien knew perfectly well whose voice that was, he desperately needed a confirmation. Even though it was just a dream. _

_ “I’m sure you are aware of  _ **_who_ ** _ it is, Chaton.” The voice sounded somewhat upset and disappointed. “Or are you?” _

_ “I…” He said, voice shaking. “I think I do?” _

_ “You think?” The voice echoed, coming, obviously, from behind. “Doesn’t sound like something you usually say, Noir.” _

_ Adrien made an effort to turn around a few more times but didn’t find anyone at all. _

_ “But how can I know the truth if I can’t see you?” He pleaded. _

_ “Adrien,” He felt a soft touch on his shoulder. “You know everything already. I know it. I can feel it. You need to trust your heart.”  _

_ He woke up faster than the thought of turning around again came to his mind. _

***

Sitting on the edge of Notre Dame’s roof, Ladybug stared at the darkening evening sky. On the one hand, she was glad to have this patrol to avert her mind from the dreams, at least for a while. On the other hand, she could use some more time to, at least, try to get some more sleep.

Looking at the surrounding rooftops, she tried not to remember how her school day went. She was zoning out for every other minute and paid little to no attention to what the teacher had to say. And even in her half-broken state of mind, she just couldn’t miss how Adrien was looking significantly worse. Apparently, his bad dreams didn’t go away, but rather were stomping him twice as hard. Add his extremely busy schedule to the mix and you get the perfect cocktail for one broken blond boy.

“His extremely busy schedule…” Her tired brain for some reason decided to highlight that though. “But what if?...”

A soft thud behind made her abandon the thought and turn around. Chat was looking at her with his big, green, clearly exhausted eyes.

“Evening, milady.” He said, nodding slowly. “And, judging by your look, it’s hardly any good.  **Bad dreams?”**

Ladybug slightly flinched away, feeling the deja vu of the phrase, reminding her of the little accident with Adrien a few days back.

“Y-yes?” She said nervously. “How did you know?”

And now it was Adrien’s turn to feel his portion of familiarity. He’d said those exact words to Marinette.

“Well… Intuition!” he answered, making them both let out a nervous chuckle. “Wanna talk about it? The dreams, of course, not my intuition.”

Ladybug smiled tiredly, gesturing to him to sit near her.

Making one step toward her, a blast of thunder exploded above their heads, making them both look up to the darkening sky.

“The rain is about to start.” Ladybug laughed, holding her hand out and feeling the first raindrops colliding with the fabric of her suit.

“Exceptional timing,” Chat said, sitting down next to her. “What could be better than getting soaked in the middle of the patrol, right?” he added with a yawn. 

“Well, nothing is better than getting soaked alongside a good friend, don’t you agree?” She answered with a sheepish smile, lying her head on Chat’s shoulder.

“I agree! Nothing is, my Lady!” He blurted out, flinching away as he was caught by surprise by the move. Sighing deeply, Chat closed his eyes, enjoying her warmth and the wonderful, unforgettable scent of her hair.

And Ladybug knew perfectly well what kind of feelings she triggered in Chat. His heart beating its way through his ribs, and his cheeks instantly turning bright red were a dead giveaway to what he felt. But her dead tiredness made her care very little about it.

“Or you could summon a lucky charm?” Chat Noir Noted, hugging Ladybug’s shoulder lightly. Rising wind and rain getting heavier made her cuddle up to him harder. “And, if we’re  _ lucky,  _ there just might be an umbrella or something like it?”

“I could.” Ladybug laughed softly. “But, first of all, this power is supposed to be used for akumas only. And, second of all, what if we end with, let’s say, a fork? It will leave us upset, soaked, and will make my transformation end much sooner. I’ll also have one tired and angry kwami on my hands.” 

“Agreed, it’s a stupid idea.” He answered, looking up, raindrops fiercely hitting his blond head. “Well, maybe we could just stop the patrol right now and call it a day? I doubt that Hawkmoth will bother doing anything when it’s this rainy.”

“I doubt your optimism, but for the lack of better ideas, I agree.” Said Ladybug, brushing away the drops from her forehead and getting to her feet. “Maybe, again if we’re lucky, we could even get some decent sleep today?” She added, holding out her hand to Chat.

“If we’re lucky.” He echoed, with her help raising to his feet. “It looks like we both could use some decent amount of rest. Well, I guess, I’ll see you soon, my Lady?”

“I’ll see you soon, Chat.”

***

Marinette tiredly fell down on her bed, holding her arms out. 

“I will never figure it out, won’t I?” She let out a loud sigh of frustration and desperation. “How can anyone at all?”

“Well, actually…” Tikki started, wanting to make a sarcastic comment on Marinette’s blindness, but stopped, seeing the accusatory glance of her chosen one.

“It’s alright, Tikki.” The girl sighed, covering her face. “I’ll manage, I’m sure of it.”

“Sure, but, Mari, pray tell me, are you absolutely sure you want to know Chat Noir’s identity?” Kwami asked worriedly. “You don’t think it’s… dangerous?

“I do think it is,” She answered, looking up. “But, Tikki, I really can’t handle it anymore. I don’t want to, frankly. And I don’t want to see him suffer either. Which leaves me no other choice. I have to know him. And I hope I’m right.”

“Well, it does sound like you’re on the right track, Marinette,” Tikki said with all seriousness in her voice. “I can help you. If you want, I mean.”

“How are you going to do that?” The girl laughed loudly. “You can’t say my name out loud, I doubt you can say his. Anyway, I’d be happy if you could help me. I have enough, right? I just need to think really hard and sort everything out, easy peasy. What do we have?”

“Well, we have your dreams. And, forgive me, I hardly think this information source is reliable, but...”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Marinette nodded. “All I need to do is to find a blond and beautiful guy, who’s looking for Ladybug, but can’t seem to actually see her. And, according to my subconscious, he lives in a… cage?”

“If you allow me, Mari, I think this is a metaph…” Tikki started. 

“Shh, I’m trying to figure it out.” Marinette cut her off, trying to sort her thoughts out.  _ How am I ever going to figure it out? I have zero idea about his life and I only know what he might look like. Can I even trust these dreams? We should’ve talked more during our patrols, that way I’d figure everything out easily. But then again, that was the point, I thought we were not supposed to know each other's identities. Was I wrong this whole time?  _ “Well, I give up, this is impossible.”

“Marinette! Concentrate!” Tikki demanded. “Golden cage! Metaphors!”

“Don’t pressure me! If I focus any harder, my head will explode!” Marinette dropped her head. “Now I just need to find the hot blond, who’s been having a lot of nightmares lately and is in love with Ladybug, but locked in the metaphorical golden…” The realization hit her harder than she’d ever expected. The lump that suddenly formed in her throat was hard to swallow. "...cage." She finished. "Holy crap!"

A devilish smile plastered all over kwami’s face. Tikki showered her chosen one with a look of respect and appreciation.

“Oh my goodness,” Marinette whispered. She wasn’t sure if she ever facepalmed that hard in her life. “Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste. Damn.”

“Are you upset?” Tikki asked, floating closer to her. “I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t expect you to be  _ upset _ . I thought your reaction will be slightly… different.”

“Upset?” She asked again. “I couldn’t EVER be upset that Chat is Adrien. It’s just… God, this situation is so stupid. I’m sure, when he figures everything out, he won’t even want to look in my general direction.”

“There-there, Mari,” Tikki gently stroked her cheeks. “You’re overreacting. I think he'll be ecstatic to know.”

Marinette sighed and smiled softly, but Tikki couldn’t miss a glimpse of sadness in the bluenette’s eyes.

“Can’t see where this enthusiasm is coming from, but it’s not like there’s going back now, right?” Marinette closed her eyes, “Tikki?”

“Yes?”

“Ready?”

“Am I ever!”

“Spots on!”

***

Adrien was sitting in his chair in front of the computer, digging into his hair and trying to sort his thoughts out.

_ This is hopeless.  _ He thought, pushing back in his chair.

Turning his head slightly, he saw Plagg, sitting nearby and enjoying yet another cheese dinner of his.

“What?” Plagg asked, shoving another bite into his mouth.

“I need you to tell me something and, please, be honest.” Adrien sighed deeply. “What chance do I have of discovering her identity?”

Kwami looked up, surprised enough to even leave his precious food.

“You sure you want…” Plagg stopped halfway through. “No, scratch that, everyone knows you want to know her identity. Do you think you  _ can _ have that information? Just imagine what Ladybug would do to you once she knows you know?”

“I’m certain we have to know,” Adrien said confidently. “One way or another, I have to do something. I can’t and don’t want to allow Ladybug to suffer like that anymore. And, to be honest, one more week of those dreams and I’ll happily step out that window over there.” He added, gesturing to the side.

“Oh, alright, go ahead then,” Plagg answered absent-mindedly, returning to his dinner after a moment of hesitation.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Adrien protested, practically jumping from his chair. “Is that it? Don’t you want to help me?”

“Well…” Plagg said thoughtfully, floating closer to Adrien. “No?”

“You are the worst, Plagg.” the boy groaned. “I don’t even have a chance to succeed.”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Plagg chuckled. “But, really, you already told me all about those ridiculous dreams of yours. What was it she said? _‘Trust your soul,’?”_ The kwami added in a high-pitched voice.

“It was ‘trust your heart’, not soul.” Adrien corrected his kwami. “What does that even mean?”

“How should I know?” Plag shrugged.

“Well of course, how could I forget,” Adrien mumbled. “You don’t have a heart.”

“Excuse you, you almost hurt my feelings,” Plagg said, flying up to one of the shelves of Adrien’s table. “You don’t want to mess with the kwami of destruction. You will regret it.” He added turning around and looking at pictures of Adrien and his friends. “And, just so you know, I’m really not interested. So, you’re on your own.” With a faint stretch, he knocked one of the pictures down. “Whoops, sorry.”

“What the h…” Adrien shouted, catching the photo before it could hit the floor. “How am I supposed to be on my own in this?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Plagg said, fleeing towards the bed.

“Awesome,” Adrien grumbled softly, looking down at the photo in his hands. It was a picture of himself, sitting in class. There was Nino near him, patting his best friend’s shoulder.

“I just need to find a raven-haired girl with beautiful blue eyes who, according to my subconscious or whatever, is in the shadow of her superheroine ego and all I need to do to find her is…” He stopped mid-through his speech taking note of the girl on the back of the photo. Marinette, sitting behind him, drilling a hole in the back of his head, her cheeks as red as a rose on a sunny spring day. “...Turn around.” He finished. 

“Holy crap!”

He heard a muffled laugh from behind. Turning around he noticed his kwami’s devilish smile and approving look.

“Finally. Congratulations, Mr. slow-ass.”

***

Each new raindrop hit his head with greater strength than the last while he jumped from one roof to another to reach his goal. He didn’t think that he would go the same route again today. He wasn’t sure it was such a good idea either. But something in his head, or in his soul to which he apparently was listening to as carefully as ever, told him to do just that. And nothing, not the rain, not the coldest wind, could stop him from coming back to his Lady, his Princess.

After climbing onto their roof, he looked around and hugged his own shoulders, shivering from the cold.

“Well, either I am dumb, or I am dumb.” He joked to himself. “I probably should wa—”

“Chat!” He heard a familiar voice coming through the noise of the rain.

“L-ladybug?” he called out, looking around, bewildered.

  
  


In a few moments she jumped down before him, her hair as drenched as his. Both were on the verge of spending the next two weeks in bed with a severe cold.

“What are you doing here?!” Ladybug asked firmly. “Are you trying to get sick?”

“Well… I…” Chat for a moment lost his words. “What are YOU doing here?”

“I… I…” Ladybug looked back at him, eyes wide open, clearly caught off guard. 

Chat smiled and took her hands in his.

“I think I can help you and tell you what you are doing here...” he said with a sweet smile, squeezing her hands tighter he added. “... Marinette.”

“So you found me…” She said thoughtfully and in a blink of an eye she pulled him into a very tight embrace. “So I’m guessing I know why you are here too. Right, Adrien?”

“You bet, Princess.” He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Huh. So you’re not angry with me?”

“I’m not,” Ladybug said with a wide grin. “Maybe after this I can at least sleep without seeing your metaphorical kitten ass in my dreams,” she added, playfully hitting him on the shoulder.

“FYI, Purrincess, it has nothing to do with me!” he said, pretending to sound offended. “I wouldn’t mind sleeping some, but… you know, waking would be much better if it’s waking up next to you.”

“Hold your horses, cowboy, will ya?” She laughed, but still placed her head on his shoulder. They both stopped paying any attention to the rain for a while as if the freezing wind, the rain and the noise stopped existing for Ladybug and Chat Noir. “Let’s just see if you’ll be a good kitten and behave, okay?”

“Okay,” Chat agreed with a wide smile. He hugged her even tighter. “Purrincess.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to invite you all to a [Miraculous Fanworks](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) discord server. There we have a lot of beautiful writers, readers, artists and more! We have support, love and cookies and we only miss you! See you there!


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